CNAAG

CNAAG ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
2026-03-16 19:00 - 21:30 (Europe/London) | Methodist Hall Chipping Norton / Zoom
Methodist Hall Chipping Norton 7pm for 7.30 start
Club Members Only

Dr Rene Breton - Manchester University and Jodrell Bank
2026-02-16 19:00 - 21:30 | Methodist Hall Chipping Norton / Zoom
Dr Rene Breton – Manchester University and Jodrell Bank
Methodist Hall, Chipping Norton 7pm for 7.30 start

CLUB NIGHT
2026-01-19 19:00 - 21:30 | Methodist Hall Chipping Norton / Zoom
Methodist Hall 7pm for 7.30
Topics TBN

CHRISTMAS TALK - MERCURY, METEORITES AND THE BEPICOLUMBO MISSION - DR JULIA CARTWRIGHT
2025-12-08 19:00 - 21:30 | Long Compton Village Hall
The talk explains why meteorites remain some of the most important materials for understanding the where, what and why of our
Solar System, as they preserve information about key events and processes. For Mercury, as one of the least
explored planets, we still don’t exactly know how it formed or what is going on at the surface. I’ll be
discussing how important these cosmic samples are, and how they contribute to our knowledge of how the
planets, like Mercury, formed. With the upcoming ESA/JAXA BepiColombo mission on its way to
Mercury, and building off of NASA MESSENGER mission data, I’ll discuss some of the latest work being
done here at the Institute for Space, University of Leicester, in our research to understand the history of the
smallest rocky planet in our Solar System.
Dr. Cartwright is a planetary scientist, cosmochemist and expert in the study of meteorites, with research
focused on understanding the timings, formation and evolution of planetary surfaces. She uses multiple
petrological and geochemical analytical techniques to understand both large- and small-scale processes in
the Solar System.
Having worked in the field for over two decades, including many notable international research institutions,
she is currently an independent research fellow at the University of Leicester, where she is leading research
to understand the surface composition of the planet Mercury, as part of the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo team
using novel equipment at UoL. She is also involved with in-situ resource utilisation (ISRU) topics,
particularly for exploring applications to the lunar surface, as well as studies of meteorites, regoliths and
asteroids.
The talk will be in person at Long Compton Village Hall 7pm for 7.30 Start (Members Only)

OBSERVING THE BRIGHTEST OBJECTS IN THE UNIVERSE - DR VICKY FAWCETT
2025-11-17 19:00 - 21:30 | Methodist Hall Chipping Norton / Zoom
Methodist Hall, Chipping Norton – 7pm for 7.30pm start
Summary: Almost every known galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its heart, including our own Milky Way, which have masses millions to billions that of our Sun. Understanding how these monster black holes shape their surroundings is crucial to our understanding of how galaxies evolve. Some black holes are very energetic, launching powerful winds and jets, and are referred to as “active”. We have recently found a population of these active black holes that are extremely bright (referred to as “quasars”) and enshrouded by dust that exhibit peculiar properties. An emerging theory is that these dusty black holes represent a key stage in galaxy evolution.
DR Vicky Fawcett is an astronomy postdoctoral researcher at Newcastle University studying quasars: extremely bright galaxies powered by supermassive black holes. She is part of two major astronomy collaborations: the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI), an optical spectrograph on the Mayall telescope in Arizona, and the Multi-object Optical and Near-IR spectrograph (MOONS), an infrared spectrograph soon to be installed on the Very Large Telescope in Chile.

CLUB NIGHT
2025-10-20 19:00 - 21:30 | Methodist Hall Chipping Norton / Zoom
Methodist Hall Chipping Norton 7pm for 7.30 Start
Topics include:
Living with a large SCT,
Radio Astronomy,
An update on Recent Imaging and Observing Session

EXPLORING THE UNIVERSE WITH LARGE SURVEYS - DR IMOGEN WHITTAM
2025-09-15 19:30 - 21:00 | Methodist Hall / Zoom
Dr Imogen Whittam is a Hintze Fellow at the University of Oxford and Christ Church, researching galaxy evolution. She is particularly interested in radio galaxies – galaxies which spew powerful jets of very energetic particles from their centre – and the role they play in galaxy evolution.
She has a PhD in Astrophysics from the University of Cambridge, and before moving to Oxford spent five years working as a SARAO Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of the Western Cape, in South Africa, where she is still an affiliated researcher.
The talk is available on Zoom and in the Methodist Hall Chipping Norton starting at 7.30pm

CLUB NIGHT
2025-08-18 19:30 - 21:30
Methodist Hall Chipping Norton 7.30 to 9pm (Doors Open 7pm):
Topics include: Gravity, a monthly update on whats in view and a look at the latest Astro images

A Talk by Mary McIntyre - Astronomical and Atmospheric Events Depicted in the Augsburg Wunderzeichenbuch (The Book of Miracles)
2025-07-21 19:30 - 21:30
Methodist Hall Chipping Norton Doors Open 7pm

CLUB NIGHT
2025-06-16 19:00 - 21:00
Methodist Hall, Chipping Norton – Subjects TBN

TALK - 'REVEALING THE UNSEEN COSMOS - PETER GOODHEW
2025-05-19 19:00 - 21:30
Methodist Hall, Chipping Norton

CLUB NIGHT
2025-04-21 19:00 - 21:00
Methodist Hall, Chipping Norton; –
Subjects expected to include: Images of Partial Solar Eclipse; Narrowband Imaging/Filters; Olbers’ Paradox

PUBLIC EVENT - PARTIAL SOLAR ECLIPSE
2025-03-29
This is an event open to the public
Main Event will be held at the Rollright Stones – Partial eclipse starts at 9.56am and finishes 12.14pm
Secondary event will be held at Witney Library

CNAAG AGM
2025-03-17 19:00 - 21:00
Methodist Hall – 19.00 to 21.00

SPEAKER EVENING
2025-02-17 19:00 - 21:00
A talk by NASA Ambassador Michael Keefe on Electronically Assisted Astronomy (EAA):
On Zoom and in the Hall;
Methodist Hall 19.00 to 21.00

CLUB NIGHT
2025-01-20 19:00 - 21:00
1900 – 2100 – Methodist Hall.

Talks:

Additions and Objectives of the 16 inch thin mirror Dob – David Henderson;
Totally Unprepared – Lawrence Greenhood;
What to look for in the January/February Sky -Nicky Fleet

Xmas meeting with Mike Frost
2024-12-09 19:00 - 21:00
Long Compton Village hall – Monday 9th December
Xmas meeting with a visit and talk from Mike Frost.
CNAAG members only

ZOOM/IN PERSON TALK - UNSEEN UNIVERSE-A TALK BY Dr CAROLINE HARPER
2024-11-18 19:00 - 21:00
Venue: Methodist Hall , Chipping Norton. Doors open 7pm for 7:30 start – A talk on the New Secrets of the Cosmos revealed by the James Webb Space Telescope

CLUB NIGHT
2024-10-21 19:00 - 21:00
Methodist Hall doors open 7pm. Talks on: Lunar Geology – Graham Cunningham; Comet Spotting from La Palma – Steve Knight, Nic Fleet; Observation Reports on latest Aurora.
